Cypress Drops Third Straight in Conference

Winn and Montel Taylor combine for 50 in loss to Hornets.
 

Andre Winn

Cypress, Calif. - Andre Winn and Montel Taylor combined for 50 points, but it wasn't enough in a 92-75 Orange Empire Conference loss to Fullerton College at home on Wednesday.

Winn finished one rebound shy of a double-double after scoring 25 points and pulling down nine rebounds against the Hornets (4-12, 2-1). Taylor continued his impressive play in January by tossing up 25 points and collecting 13 rebounds to earn his first double-double in OEC play. In Cypress' three league contests this season, Taylor is averaging 22.6 points and nine rebounds a game.

Cypress (7-11, 0-3) started off the night by going blow-for-blow with Fullerton. Winn knocked down a three pointer to put the Chargers on the board a minute and a half into the game, then drained another jumper a few minutes later to bring Cypress back to within a point at 9-8 with 16:43 to go before halftime.

After a score by the Hornets made it a three-point contest, Jacob Nungaray scored two points to make it  a one-point game. Unfortunately, that would be the closest Cypress would get the rest of the way.

Fullerton College opened up a 41-26 lead right before halftime when Gregory Bewerwick hit a three pointer with seven ticks left on the clock.

An offensive shootout broke out in the second period after both squads decided to leave their defenses in the locker room at halftime. In a wild 20 minute stretch, the Chargers and Hornets combined to score 100 points on 36 of 71 shooting from the floor, and 20 of 29 from the line.

The scoring was so evenly matched in the second half that both teams hit 18 field goals, including four three pointers apiece. Fullerton's only edge in the second period came at the charity stripe with a narrow 11-9 margin.

Winn and Taylor did the bulk of their scoring after halftime by combining for 35 of their 50 points. Winn scored 18 points on 5 of 9 shooting, including sinking three of four from downtown, and a perfect 5 for 5 from the line, while Taylor dropped 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting in 20 minutes of play.

The Chargers have a bye this Friday, January 13, and will return to action at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 18, when they go on the road to take on a solid Santa Ana College squad.